A ROW has broken out between the Yes and No camps in the independence campaign over a "misleading" pro-unionist leaflet hailing how Scots benefit from the UK's AAA rating, writes Helen McArdle.
The testy exchange came as the UK's AAA rating was downgraded for the first time in more than 30 years.
Independence supporters called on unionists to pulp the leaflet, produced as part of the Better Together campaign, after the ratings agency Moody's dropped the UK's credit rating from AAA to Aa1.
Moody's put the move down to the "significant challenges" facing UK debt-reduction plans.
North of the Border, the decision sparked a war of words between rival sides of the independence debate as Yes campaigners called for the "immediate withdrawal" of a Better Together leaflet which pushed the case for voting 'no' in the referendum by pointing out that "Scots save billions on the cost of mortgages due to the UK's AAA credit rating".
Kevin Pringle, Alex Salmond's senior political spokesman, tweeted: "On Thursday, No said they 'simply offer facts'. Today's leaflet says Scots save billions 'due to the UK's AAA credit rating'."
He added: "No campaign must withdraw misleading leaflet...#PulptheFiction."
However, the No campaign rubbished the claims, saying that the leaflet at the centre of the dispute had not been used since last year and their current leaflet made no mention of the rating.
Spokesman Rob Shorthouse said: "The leaflet they're asking us to pulp, we're no longer using anyway. The triple AAA rating was mentioned in one bit of campaign material that we're no longer using, so it's a bit of a fail from them [the Yes Campaign] really. They're just clutching at straws." He added: "If they want to pulp it, they'll have to drive round and knock on people's doors and ask for it back."
War of words over 'misleading' No vote leaflet
Why are you making commenting on HeraldScotland only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereCommments are closed on this article